The Portland daily press., 1887-03-28
THE PRESS.
MONDAY MORNING, MARCH 90.
WITcHcRAFT.
New York Home Journal.

OF ON1ordsnlre villages well mounted yOun
gentleman of somewhat distinguished ar
pearance. Calling to the ostler he gave hii
particular instructions as to the treatment Q
his horse, and ordering the best bed an
supper the landlord could provide, retire
for time to his room, desiring to be Gale
when the meal was ready
In about an hour the supper was on tho ta
Bile and the stranger sat down TO it. He ha
evidently come from distance-the state q
his horse showed that-and the way he di
justice to the landlady's cookery proved tina
he must have been remarkably hungry. m
good woman was in truth rather alarmed a
the rapldlty with which he disposed of Wha
sne set before him.
lie was well built young fellow, of abou
eighteen or nineteen, with broad brow an,
strangely piercing eyes that seemed to follow
ner ABOUT tne room, and look through her Il
the wall each time she caught their gaze. Eo
ABOUT half an hour he was silent--toO busy
IN TACT, to speak-but he was pleasant ant
llkeable; and when she left him to himself
th9 Dame mad taken rather fancy to him.
=, ha1 she known how he was situated he
thoughts might have gone another road. Fol
Ine distinguished stranger was a gentleman
commoner Of Oriel, who, with his choic'
companions, had been trying little amateur
highway robbery, and failing to ind victim
mad come on here alone, without a penny II
MS pocket, trusting to what might turn NJ
to furnish him with the means Of paying his
bill.
As soon as he was alone he left the table
and took his chair to the fire. He began tt
not encouraging. He had been living what
was a wild college life, even in those wild
days. His father, bencher of Gray's Inn,
and county magnate of influence, was an
eccentric man of strong will, never known
to go back on his word; and in his last letter
he had given the son clearly to understand
that his patience was exhausted. AS to
money, he had sent him enough for some
time; and as to "accompts" he would be re.
responsible for none latter the date of this
my last letter, unless We amend" He had
not amended; he had gone further and
failed.
No wonder then that his meditations were
unsatisfactory. He knew that he was not a
fool-his experiences with his fellow stu,
dents had taught him that-and fortunately
on this occasion his self conceit came to his
rescue.
''My father and mother" he said to him.
self-at least he said years afterward that he
said to, himself, for he was not an unknown
NANNY father and mother are better gift
ed than those they meet, and / am very like
them. have the old mans voice and nay
mothers eyes. see things as quickly as
they do, and mind them as well. And here
have been for two years with the chance of
getting what wonld give me living IL the
old people were to throw me over, and what
have done"
What had he done, indeede He had ac-
qulred thin coat of university varnish.
This is not a work of imagination, and we
will not enlarge on the students recognition
Of his folly. The conclusion he came to was
the ordinary one. quite the ordinary one:
Let me get out of this trouble and / will
never get into another"
But how was he to get out of this trouble?
He could not help liking the CHEEKY, brisk
little woman he had come-disguise it as he
might-to swindle. He had eaten his sup
per; that did not trouble him much, for 1t
was obvious that if he was to be honest he
must live. Byt how was he to pay for itP
The horse was not his; to leave it would be
to rob Peter to pay Paul. He was in the same
fix with his clothes. The idea of doing lit
tie wrong to do great right, on the Bassa-
MO principle, occurred to him, and was re-
jected.
'No; I'll be honest, and I'll be thorough"
he said, and, resolving to be very good and
very superior to everything and everyone he
met, he strobe up and down the room.
=, IN go and see mine hostess" said he;
maybe something will happen to me-"
And something did happen which played
sad havoc with his good resolutions.
=, Entering the kitchen. he found seated by
the fire frall, weary looking girl of thir-
teen, whom the landlady introduced to him
as her daughter
'''Sick Of bad ague; waiting for the fit,
which will come to her tonight"
student.
"A year this Michaelmas," said the land
lady; and never q leech can cure her. l
nave tried them all the country round, and
paid them well, but there sits the poor child,
growing worse and worse, and surely shak-
ing into her grave"
What does her father say? Is there none
In London that could tell you what to do?"
Her father, sir, has been dead these three
years. ] am poor widow, and have spent
all he left me In trying to cure the child, but
1t Is of no avail. Poor Jess poor Jess
The stranger looked troubled-as he was.
To ride away from an inn without paying
widow in distress, for whose sick child she
had sacrificed her means of living, was,--
well, the act of a scoundrel
The OXonian wished he had never left
Oriel; he felt thoroughly ashamed Of him
self. So genuine was his shame that il
might be thought he was fairly on the path
OF reformation, and would thenceforth keep
to 1t. But 1t was not so with him and there
are very many like him.
he was all right until he took another sip
at the wine which the hostess had tempting
ly placed within his reach, and which, at the
moment he had resolved to rob the poor
woman no more, he, in pure absent-minded-
ness, lifted to mis- lips and unconsciously
drank. As he put down the empty flagon he
caught sight of the new moon through the
window, and as his gaze was returning to the
fire IL rested iDr moment on the patient,
pallid-faced girl
She was undoubtedly i'll. and he sympa-
thized with her. She was pretty, end he ad-
mlred her. But the low type Of. lace, with
marrow sloping forehead, the furtive eyes,
and the weak willed mouth and chin, told
her character so Enthusiastically that an idea
suggested itself to him which he welcomed
with delight A fig for his resolves! Here
was way out of his difficulties!
tack?" "
1.-The fit will, come to her at eleven"
u viii cure heri'
Thou! Art thou physician?"
II have studied with the wisest where
wisdom dwells. Let your daughter de as l
direct, and the ague will depart from her."
Art thou willing, Jess" asked the moth
err.
The girl turned her head, bnt the stran-
gers eyes were on her, and she whispered
Then 1 will go back in a brief space.
so to seek some potent herbs under the aays
Of the young moon"
The student went out laughing to himself
at his new device. and thinking over the
part he was to play. He walked down the
garden, jumped the palings, crossed the
meadow, and followed for time the bank
of the stream. whose ripples cleaned with
the silver sprinkles from the moon.
A leaf of herb-robert he took, then small
c0ltsfoot and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS then
a four-leaved paris and twig of broom.
Then he returned to the kitchen, Cooking
unutterable things" and laid his leaves on
the table, the coltsfoot at one end, the herb
robert at the other, the scorpion grass and
dogs mercury in the middle, with the broom
next to the paris. Then he put the leaves
in cup and rubbed them together for
time, whispering to himself so as to be heard
by the invalid:
ETA, zeta, theta. phi; kappa, delta, lamb
da, pi; sigma, gamma, beta, mu; alpha, tau,
epsilon, nu; psi, chi, upsilon, shO; kyklo-
pedeia may the ague go!'
Then he opened the window that the moon
might shine in the cup. and he took out
some of the leaves and rolled them in a strip
of parchment about the size of a cigarette
paper, which he cut from his pocket book
Then he tied the roll with a silken string
and sealed it, but he did not use his own
seal, for he pressed on the wax a leaf of
scorpion grass which he had accidentally
dropped on the floor.
"a piece of ribbon" he said to the hostess
the first words he had addressed to her
since he entered with the leaves" pen
and ink, and while she was gone he emp
tied the cup on the fire.
70 each end of his tiny cylinder he tied
piece of ribbon, and with the pen and ink he
scrawled on the parchment the Greek letters
in his remarkable charm, repeating the
words as he did so.
NOW give me thy wrist" he said to the
girl; and as he knOtted the ribbon his eyes
searched into hers and seemed to look
through them down every nerve in her
body.
Wear that" he said, as he finished the